Episode 1: Betrayal

•••Genevieve•••

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"I'm going to kill you brother," I swore lifting my gaze, staring into the face that matched my own, the same blue eyes, the same shade of blonde and the same blood

"Even if it's the last thing I do on this wretched earth, I swear it to you."

"I’m doing this for the good of the kingdom Eve," Dante said devoid of any remorse.

"The only way Aries survives is by offering a tribute to the blood demon. Alpha Vergil demands it." He added tightening his grip around the waist of Vanessa, the viper who had crawled into his bed and poured poison into his ears.

She had turned my twin, the boy I used to hide under the blankets with during thunderstorms, into a hungry ambitious tyrant.

"If you truly loved your brother, you would offer yourself willingly as a sacrifice," Vanessa purred, her fingers tracing a slow line down his chest. "A good sister wouldn't let her brother's kingdom burn."

My hands clenched into fists so tight my nails cut into my palms drawing blood.

We were twins and for twenty four years, we were all each other had left in this cruel world.

Ten years ago, the infamous Demon Alpha, Vergil Blackfyre, marched his army through our gates, massacred our village, impaled our parents and displayed them outside the city gates to send a message to any human kingdom and pack that wouldn't submit to his tyrannical brutal reign.

After their deaths, our twisted uncle, Alphonse, took the crown.

He was a monster, but he was a smart monster that knew that as long as my father's bloodline lived, his claim to the throne was a lie.

I remember the exact moment my father died. He was covered in blood, choking on his own breath, but he looked at me and squeezed my hand.

“Protect him, Eve,” he had gasped. “Protect your brother. Ensure he takes his rightful place as king of Valeria.”

To keep that promise, I ruined myself.

I knew Uncle Alphonse wouldn't hesitate to slit Dante’s throat in his sleep knowing he was weak.

So, I became the shield. I went to our uncle and offered him a deal.

I became his shadow. His weapon, his assassin and for ten years, I put blades through the hearts of his enemies, men and women.

When blades weren't enough, I used my body. I slept with powerful, disgusting men, trading pieces of my dignity just to buy my brother another day of safety.

I gave up my body and soul for him and now, this was how he repaid me.

"I sacrificed everything for you, Dante!" I screamed, the tears finally breaking through. "I killed for you! I put my soul in a cage and condemned it to hell just so you could breathe!"

Dante let out a sharp, mocking laugh that cut deeper than any dagger. "You sacrificed everything for me?" He stepped away from Vanessa, looking down at me with pure disgust.

"No one asked you to, Eve. I certainly didn't. You chose to become a monster. You chose to throw your dignity away and crawl into those beds because deep down, you're just a sadistic, broken killer. Don't blame your filth on me."

I stared at him, my breath catching in my throat, "I did it to keep Alphonse from murdering you! To make sure you lived to take the throne!"

"And now he's taking it. Your duty is fulfilled," Vanessa chimed in, her voice dripping with fake pity as she stroked Dante’s cheek. "We no longer have any use for a broken tool."

Dante stepped closer, a cruel smirk playing on his lips, "Vergil requires the blood of women every full moon. Every single kingdom on the eastern border follows this rule or faces total annihilation. If I don't give him what he wants, he will burn Aries to the ground."

"So you give him gold! You give him land! You do not hand him your own sister!" I screamed, lunging forward, but the guards stepped in, blocking me.

"Gold won't soothe his curse, Eve. You know what he is."

I did know.

Everyone knew the horrifying rumors and tales about Vergil, the Cursed Alpha.

Every full moon, the demon wolf inside him demanded a sacrifice and slaughtered dozens of young women to soothe it's blood thirst.

No one ever survived a night with him.

"This isn't about the pack, Dante," I whispered glaring at him "This is about you."

A flash of anger crossed his face, confirming my fears, "Some of the elders have started plotting behind my back," he spat,

"They want to make you Alpha. They look at me and see someone incompetent and weak. They would prefer a woman, a trained bloody hound, to sit on my throne. Do you have any idea how insulting that is? To have my own sister dethrone me? A woman take my place?"

"I would never do that! You know I wouldn't!" I yelled.

I knew the pack didn't respect him. while I was out on the borders keeping our enemies at bay, Dante was getting drunk, drowning his insecurities in wine and sleeping with anything that had a pulse and hole hence his infamous title, 'The whore king'.

I was the one who kept Aries standing. Last year, when I grew powerful enough, I finally assassinated our uncle, removing the final threat and placing the crown on Dante’s head myself.

"I can't risk having you around to stir a rebellion," Dante said coldly. "I was born to be Alpha. Not you."

"I made you Alpha!"

SLAP!

"You didn't make me anything!" he shouted, his face twisted in rage.

He gestured wildly and three heavy guards stepped forward, raising their swords and spears.

"You shouldn't speak to our great Alpha that way," Vanessa murmured, crawling back to his side like a spider.

"Dante was chosen by the gods. You were simply a pawn to ascend him to greatness."

I bit my lip so hard it split, mixing my blood with the tears on my face.

She was pulling his strings, using his pathetic jealousy to eliminate me and my brother was too stupid and blinded by his own weakness to see it.

"You're sending me to die," I whispered sobbing heavily, broken by his betrayal. "I am your twin, Your other half, I protected you for ten years..."

"And this will be your final act of protection," Dante said coldly crossing his arms, "I will be the undisputed ruler of this pack, and all it costs... is you. Vergil’s emissary promised us eternal protection if I offered a tribute, just like our uncle used to do."

"He killed our parents, Dante!" I roared launching at him trying to tear his throat out with my bare teeth but two massive guards grabbed my arms, pinning me back.

"He massacred our people! Men, women, children and he impaled them outside the city gates! How can you bow to him?! How can you give the last piece of family you have left?!"

Dante walked up to me. He reached out and caught my chin between his fingers, forcing my face up.

"Our parents are dead Eve. Along with everyone else from that night," he whispered maliciously, his eyes completely empty.

"They are dust. Power is all that matters now. Vergil will have his full moon tribute, and I will have my crown."

I stopped thrashing and let my body go still, staring directly into his eyes, letting him see the exact moment the sister who loved him died, leaving only the assassin he claimed I was.

"I will kill him," I spat, my voice dripping with pure, unadulterated hatred. "And then, Dante, I will come back and I will take your head."

Dante just smiled. "You won't survive the night with that demon, sister, perhaps you can haunt me as a ghost instead?"

He laughed alongside the snake at his side, Vanessa.

I opened my mouth to curse him, but a sudden, blinding pain exploded at the back of my head as one of the guards had struck me with the butt of his spear.

My knees gave out and I hit the stone floor face first, my vision blurring as I struggled to remain conscious.

"Alpha Dante," a guard reported, his voice trembling. "Alpha Vergil's Beta has arrived."

Then a man walked into my fading line of sight. He was tall, broad shouldered dressed in a red regal coat that swept the floor, and hauntingly beautiful.

Long, curly black hair fell over a striking face that was crafted specially by the gods to tempt women.

"Lord Eric," Dante said, his voice instantly turning small and eager to please. "It is an honor to welcome you in person."

"Alpha Vergil respects your sacrifice," the man, Eric, spoke in a deep vibrating masculine tone. "To offer your own twin as a tribute... there is no greater show of faith and loyalty. He sent me to offer his personal gratitude." Eric’s hand rested casually on the hilt of his blade.

"The honor is entirely mine," Dante smiled, practically bowing.

"As promised, we offer you a thousand gold rubies, and the protection of the Black Shadow pack," Eric said, his eyes scanning the floor until they landed on me.

when our gazes met it felt as though the world had stopped.

It felt like a lightning strike as the agonizing pain in my head vanished, replaced by an undeniable warmth that rushed through my veins like a jolt of electricity.

It was a pull that made my soul gasp.

A mate bond.

I gasped, staring at him through the blur of my tears. Eric froze and the calm, aristocratic mask on his face shattered, his eyes widening in absolute shock.

He felt it too. I knew he did judging by his reaction.

For a second, just a fraction of a second, I saw hesitation in his eyes. I saw the conflict of a werewolf realizing he was looking at his fated mate.

But then, he closed his eyes, took a sharp breath, and forced the mask back over his face.

He looked away from me, turning to his own soldiers.

Was I getting rejected by my fated mate?

"Take her," Eric ordered trying to mask the hesitation In his voice, "We shouldn't keep the Demon Alpha waiting for his tribute any longer."

"No! No! Get off me!" I thrashed violently as Vergil's soldiers grabbed my shoulders, dragging me up from the dirt. "Don't you dare touch me!"

I looked back at my brother, who stood there with his hands behind his back, a smug satisfied smirk on his face.

"You will regret this, Dante! I will make you pay!" I screamed, my voice echoing off the high stone walls. "I swear on our parents' graves, I will have your head for this!"

Dante chuckled, turning his back on me. "You have done well protecting this kingdom, sister. The kingdom of Aries owes you a great debt." he paused before adding,

"I will make sure your noble sacrifice isn't in vain."